1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to progressive awards in the field of gaming and lottery. More particularly, the invention relates to methods for funding and displaying a progressive award prize.
2. The Prior Art
Progressive award prizes in the field of gaming and lottery are known. For example, in the field of casino gaming progressive prizes are typically provided as jackpot prize pursuant to play on a slot machine or group of slot machines. Typically, the progressive prize is awarded when a qualifying award event occurs during play on the gaming device (e.g., a symbol or combination of symbols appearing on a wagered payline) or according to some other condition (e.g., random selection from a central controller).
In general, progressive prizes are funded by the play of one or more game devices. For example, a portion of each wager placed on a slot machine (e.g., 1%) may be used to fund the progressive prize. In some cases, the progressive prize may be “seeded” by the operator so that the progressive prize starts at a particular amount (e.g., a pre-determined minimum amount). As the game device or group of game devices are played, the progressive prize grows as portions of each wager contribute to the progressive prize. In some cases, the likelihood of obtaining the qualifying award event is set to a low value, and the progressive prize grows to substantially large amounts. The excitement of play on these high volatility games generates even more play from players, further increasing the progressive prize.
In accordance with the prior art implementations, the current sum of the contributions made to the progressive are its value or prize, and is displayed to the player. Where a group of gaming devices participates in the same progressive prize, a large sign or display may be used to indicate the current value of the progressive prize. The value of the progressive prize is further shown as a dynamically increasing amount, using a rollup or count-up feature, similar to other rollup indicators as odometers, for example.
The value of the progressive prize displayed to the players, while equal to the actual contributions, is not awarded as a lump sum when a player wins. What is given to a winning player is an annuity whose summed lifetime payments have the same value as the sum of the current contributions. By the same token, if a player chooses a lump sum payment instead of an annuity, the lump sum award will be the amount the aforementioned annuity would cost, which is less (usually substantively less) than the current contribution value.
By way of illustration, suppose the contributions to the progressive prize are one million dollars ($1,000,000). The progressive prize display would also indicate $1,000,000. However, the progressive prize display represents a payment over an annuity period (e.g., a twenty-five (25) year annuity). In this example, if a player were to win the progressive prize, the $1,000,000 would be paid to the player over a 25-year period. The player could elect a “face value pay off” in which case, the player would receive a reduced amount (e.g., $400,000) depending on market conditions.
This arrangement is selected in prior art progressive systems by casino operators (or progressive providers) to derive income from the progressive game. Whether a player chooses a lump sum or annuitized win, the cost to the casino is the same or within a relatively small additive factor of magnitude of each other (depending on how the programming is set up, the annuities available at the time, etc.), and is less considerably than the current sum that has been collected for the progressive. The casino or progressive operator makes profit from the progressive by keeping the difference between the lump sum or cost of the annuity and current amount collected for the progressive. Using the above example, the casino operator (or progressive provider) derives income from the difference ($600,000) between the actual contributions ($1,000,000) and the payout amount or cost of an annuity ($400,000).
Unfortunately, this arrangement while suitable for deriving a profit for the casino operator (or progressive provider), creates dissatisfaction from players who realize that the player does not win the amount actually contributed to the progressive prize, but rather a reduced amount (i.e., the pay off amount is not equal to the actual contributions to the progressive). The present invention uses a new and different business model to present a new and more exciting progressive payout to players having a different source of profit for casino operators.